A presbyter, St John of Kanty taught philosophy, theology and Scripture at the University of Krakow, Poland, during the 15th century. He urged his students to moderation in controversy and he is remembered for his excellent teaching, for the austerity of his personal life and for the generosity of his almsgiving.
He was born in Kanty, Poland, in 1390 and his parents, noting his keen intelligence, sent him to study at the University of Krakow. He took degrees, was ordained priest and appointed to a chair in the university.
He was also a clever physicist who he helped to develop Jean Buridan’s “theory of impetus”, which anticipated the work of Galileo and Newton.
His success as a preacher and a teacher provoked envy among his peers some of whom were successful in having him removed from the university and sent to serve as a parish priest in Olkusz.
Although he set about his work with single-hearted energy, according to Butler’s Lives of the Saints, he was unpopular with his parishioners, and was also afraid of the responsibilities he shouldered. He persevered and was said to have won the hearts of the people of the parish by the time he was recalled to Krakow some years later.
St John’s second appointment at the university was as Professor of Sacred Scripture, an office he was to hold for the rest of his life.
He gained such a reputation that his doctoral gown for long was used to vest graduates at the conferring of their degrees.
Outside academic circles St John was not only a guest of nobility but also a great friend to the poor of Krakow, not least to needy students, and he would put his goods and money always at their disposal.
Indeed, his own needs were few. He never ate meat, he slept on the floor and walked on long journey with his pack upon his back, even during four pilgrimages to Rome and one to Jerusalem. When he was reminded to look after his health he replied that the desert fathers enjoyed long lives.
He died on Christmas Eve 1473 at the age of 83 amid an outburst of sorrow among the people of Krakow. In his final hours he told those caring for him to “never mind about this prison which is decaying … but think of the soul that is going to leave it”.
His remains were interred in the Collegiate Church of St Anne, Krakow, and his tomb is still a major pilgrimage site.
St John Kanty was beatified by Pope Clement X in 1676 and he was named a patron of Poland and Lithuania by Pope Clement XII in 1737. He was canonised in 1767 by Pope Clement XIII.